GARMENT HANGER

The present invention relates to garment hangers and in particular to a garment hanger for securing to a support such as a clothes line.

Garment hangers for hanging clothes in a wardrobe or the like are known comprising a support portion for one or more items of clothes and a hook portion for suspending the hanger with the item(s) of clothes thereon from a rail in the wardrobe.

It is often desirable after washing certain items of clothes to use such hangers to suspend the items of clothes from a washing line, clothes dryer or similar support while they dry. A problem, however, is that the hook portion of the hanger can be dislodged from the washing line by the wind with the result that the clothes may be soiled and need to be washed again. To prevent this, the hook portion can be secured to the line with a peg but even this may not prevent the hook portion being dislodged from the line in windy conditions.

The present invention has been made from a consideration of the foregoing problems and seeks to provide a solution.

More especially, a preferred object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger that can be secured to a support such as a washing line without the use of a separate peg.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a garment hanger comprising a support portion for at least one item of clothing and a hook portion, the hook portion including clip means having an arm that can be fastened in a closed position to trap and retain a clothes line for releasably securing the hanger to the clothes line.

Preferably, the clip means is configured to locate and retain the clothes line in a recessed portion when fastened in the closed position. The arm may include a formation for urging the clothes line into the recessed portion such that the clip means grips the clothes line and inhibits sliding movement of the hanger along the clothes line.

Preferably, the clip means is configured for securing the hanger to different sizes (thicknesses) of clothes lines. For example, the clip means may have a plurality of recessed portions of different size to receive a clothes line of corresponding size, and the arm is configured to secure and retain the clothes line in the appropriate recessed portion when fastened in the closed position. The clothes line may be urged into the appropriate recessed portion when the arm is fastened in the closed position by a corresponding formation on the arm. The arm may have a corresponding formation for some or all of the recessed portions.

In one arrangement, the clip means is provided on a neck section of the hook portion and the hook portion has a curved head section for suspending the hanger from a rail in a wardrobe or the like. In this way, the clip means can be arranged with the arm in the closed position when not used to secure the hanger to a clothes line and does not interfere with use of the hanger to suspend clothes in a wardrobe using the head section of the hook portion to suspend the hanger from a rail or the like.

In a preferred embodiment, the hanger is made of plastics material, for example by moulding, and the clip means is formed integrally with the hook portion. For example, the recessed portions may be formed in the neck section of the hanger and the arm connected to the neck section by an integral web forming a hinge for pivotal movement of the arm towards and away from the neck section to fasten and release the arm.

Preferably, the arm and neck section are provided with interengageable formations to fasten the arm in the closed position. The formations may engage with a snap action that provides a positive locking action to secure the hanger to the clothes line.

In a preferred embodiment, the clip means is configured such that, when fastened in the closed position, forces applied to the arm by a clothes line enhance the engagement of the formations to resist release of the arm.

Preferably, the arm formation is provided at a distal end of the arm that is connected to the arm by a flexible portion about which the distal end can bend to engage/release the interengageable formations.

Preferably, the arm is hinged at a proximal end to the neck section and extends downwards away from the hinge. In this way, if the clip means is released while the hanger is attached to the clothes line, the weight of the clothes suspended from the hanger will urge the clothes line towards the hinge such that the hanger is not dislodged from the clothes line.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of securing a garment hanger to a clothes line, comprising the steps of providing a hook portion of the hanger with clip means having an arm that can be secured in a fastened position, releasing the arm and positioning a clothes line between the arm and a section of the hook portion, and securing the arm in the fastened position such that the clothes line is trapped and retained by the clip means.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a garment hanger having a hook portion and clip means formed integrally in one piece.

These and other features, benefits and advantages of the invented garment hanger will be apparent from the following description, given by way of example only, of an embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which :-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a garment hanger according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a side view, to an enlarged scale, of the clip means shown in Figure 1 in the closed position; and

Figure 3 is a side view, to an enlarged scale, of the clip means shown in Figure 1 in the open position.

Referring to the drawings, a garment hanger 1 is shown with an integral clip 3 for releasably securing the hanger 1 to any selected one of a plurality of clothes lines of different diameter (size/thickness) . Three clothes lines 5a, 5b, 5c of different diameter are shown in broken lines in Figure 3 by way of example only.

As shown, the hanger 1 has a support portion 7 of triangular shape from which items of clothes can be suspended and a medial hook portion 9 connected to the apex of the support portion 7. The hook portion 9 has a neck section 11 that extends upwards from the apex of the support portion 7 and terminates in a curved head section 13.

The head section 13 is shaped to fit over a rail (not shown) in a wardrobe for suspending the hanger 1 from the rail and the hook portion 9 is configured so that the rail is spaced substantially vertically above the apex of the support portion 7 and the hanger 1 is balanced when suspended from the rail.

The clip 3 has an arm 15 that is connected at the proximal end to the neck section 11 by a flexible web 16 that provides an integral hinge for pivotal movement of the arm 15 between an open or released position shown in Figure 3 and a closed or fastened position shown in Figure 2.

The neck section 11 is formed with three recesses 17a, 17b, 17c configured to receive a respective one of the three washing lines 5a, 5b, 5c of different diameter (size/thickness) when the arm is 15 is the open position and a retainer formation 19 for securing the arm 15 in the closed position by engagement with a co-operating locking formation 21 at the distal free end of the arm 15.

The arm 15 overlies the recesses 17a, 17b, 17c in the closed position to trap and retain a respective one of the washing lines 5a, 5b, 5c in the corresponding recess 17a, 17b, 17c. As shown, the arm 15 has a profiled surface 23 on the side facing the neck section 11 to provide formations 25a, 25b, 25c to engage and urge a respective one of the washing lines 5a, 5b, 5c into the corresponding recess 17a, 17b, 17c when the arm 15 is fastened in the closed position such that the clip 3 grips and holds the washing line to prevent the hanger 1 sliding along the washing line. In this embodiment, the formations 25a, 25b, 25c comprise a protrusion but it will be understood that any suitable formations may be employed on the arm and/or in the recesses to provide an enhanced grip of the clothes line.

The distal end of the arm 15 is connected to the main body of the arm by a flexible portion 27 that allows the distal end to deflect or bend to engage/disengage the formations 19,21 to secure/release the arm 15. Thus, in use, when it is desired to open the clip 3, finger pressure is applied to the distal end of the arm 15 in the direction of arrow A causing

the distal end to bend about the flexible portion 27 to move the locking formation clear of the retainer formation 19 and allow the arm 15 to pivot away from the neck section 11. When it is desired to close the clip 3, finger pressure is applied to the arm 15 between the flexible portion 27 and the proximal end in the direction of arrow B causing the locking formation 21 to strike the retainer formation 19 resulting in the distal end bending about the flexible portion 27 and allowing the locking formation 21 to move past the retainer formation 19 whereupon the distal end returns to its original position due to the resilience of the flexible portion 27 causing the locking formation 21 to engage behind the retainer formation 19 with a snap action.

As shown, a formation 29 on the surface 23 of the arm 15 locates on a stepped portion 31 of the neck section 11 when the clip 3 is closed and serves as a stop to limit movement of the arm 15 towards the neck section 11. When the hanger 1 is secured to a washing line, the configuration of the locking formation 21 and retainer formation 19 is such that, in the closed position of the clip 3, a force applied to the arm 15 between the flexible portion 27 and the proximal end of the arm 15 in the direction of arrow C, such as by wind forces acting on a garment suspended from the hanger, will cause the arm 15 to deflect to urge the locking formation 21 further under the retainer formation 19 so that the locking engagement of the formations 19,21 is enhanced to prevent the clip 3 being released. The formation 29 also assists in preventing release of the clip 3 by preventing the washing line sliding down behind the flexible portion 27 and causing the distal end to bend and unlock the formations 19,21. The engagement of the formations in the closed position is further enhanced by radiusing the ends of the formations 19,21 to overlock in the closed position.

The hanger 1 is made of plasties material such as polypropylene although it will be understood this is not essential and that other materials may be employed. The plasties material employed may include pigments to provide hangers 1 of any desired colour or combination of colours. The hanger 1 is conveniently moulded in one piece. Alternatively, the hanger portion and support portion may be formed separately and joined together. For example, we may attach the same hanger portion to different support portions to produce a range of different types of hangers. Thus, the support portion may be configured for hanging more than one item of clothing such as the jacket and trousers of a suit.

It will be understood that the invention has application to hangers with all types and constructions of support portions and is not limited to the support portion of the above-described embodiment. Furthermore, it will be understood that other configurations of the hook portion may be employed and the invention is not limited to the hook portion of the above-described embodiment.

In the above-described embodiment, the clip is configured for attaching the hanger to clothes lines of different diameter. It will be appreciated that while this is preferred it is not essential and the clip could have a single recessed portion to receive clothes lines of different diameter. Where more than one recessed portion is provided to accommodate clothes lines of different diameter, any number of recessed portions may be provided.

In the above-described embodiment, the or each recessed portion is provided in the neck section of the hook portion. While preferred, this is not essential and the or each recessed portion could be provided in the arm. Alternatively, the or each recessed portion may be defined in part

by the neck section and in part by the arm. Alternatively, the arm and neck section may define an opening therebetween when the arm is fastened in the closed position that tapers from one end to the other end to accommodate different sizes (thicknesses) of clothes line. The taper may be arranged so that the narrower end is above the wider end when the hanger is suspected from a clothes line so that the clothes line is urged towards the narrower end to be gripped between the arm and the neck section at the appropriate position within the opening.

In the above-described embodiment, the clip is shown located on the same side of the neck section below the head section. Again, while preferred, this is not essential and the clip could be provided on the side of the neck section opposite to the head section or at any other angularly offset position.

Although the invention has been described with particular reference to use of the clip to secure the hanger to a clothes line, it will be understood that the clip could be used to secure the hanger to a thin rod or bar of a clothes dryer and the term "clothes line" is to be construed in the description and claims to include any member or element to which the hanger can be attached by fastening the arm in the closed position to trap and retain the member or element until the arm is released.

Other modifications and improvements that can be made to the hanger with integral clip will be apparent to those skilled in the art.